Do you ever feel awkward about how to respond to compliments or words of praise for a job well done? Did you ever find yourself saying something like, “Oh, it’s not me. It’s all God. I’m just here to be used for His purposes”?
Cringe…
Why are we humans so fearful to acknowledge something we did well? We surmise that we are in danger; that we are one step away from a Garden of Eden moment of monumental shame and disgrace if we dare take any ounce of credit for something we accomplished.
I wonder if there is a wider margin between honoring our God-given creativity and prideful depravity than the “fine line” we have created.
I get it. There is reason to be concerned because so many of us have been hurt by people who were only concerned with their own glory and their own reputation. Indeed, pride can lead to precarious situations and devastating consequences. It’s not a light-hearted matter when we teach our children to live with humility. We desire for them to avoid damaged relationships due to selfishness and arrogance.
But I don’t know if complete self-abasement is the answer either.
When you are aware and receptive of God’s love for you, you make room for His love to dwell deeply in you and create oneness with Him. That oneness is not a sign that He is all good and we have no amount of goodness in us. You were created good, and sin did not suddenly wipe out every last speck of everything good from your existence.
In the book of Isaiah, our righteous acts are compared to filthy rags. I think this verse gets a great deal of misuse. The verse means that the human trappings we use to create our own goodness are powerless and superficial. It doesn’t mean that we are like filthy rags or that we do not have any value. It means that when we live in shame, we are misaligned with God’s truth and love.
Being sanctified in God’s love is not something we were meant to achieve in our own power. We cannot create our own redeemed heart without the perfect love of Jesus. But the very truth that God created us in His image, and remains in relationship with us and never leaves us, shows that there is something sacred in our life that was always there.
I fully believe Jesus’ sacrifice for us was absolutely necessary for us to be rescued from our shame. Yet I wrestle with the idea that we are only pitiful, wretched souls and Jesus simply took affection-less pity on us. Jesus was God in the flesh, and when I read about His life on earth and how He interacted with people, that’s just not the picture I see. I see Jesus’ love, compassion, and desire for relationship with people. He is the first to see something valuable in people when they do not see it themselves.
Sometimes we let our feelings of inadequacy become the engine to strive and achieve and help us get where we need to go. When you see yourself as Jesus does, you can let love be your motivation. Your understanding and acceptance of yourself will bring freedom to move ahead with dreams and goals and life without fear of failure. Fear of not being enough never brings you to your highest goals, your highest good.
Feeling that you are never good enough may help you push forward and accomplish things, but always at the cost of peace and your own sacred identity in Jesus.
God’s good work in you does not require self-degradation. God’s best work in you occurs when you see yourself with the same worth that He sees. Your thoughts soundly anchored in the unyielding love of Jesus keep you grounded in the solid truth that you have infinite value.